Hola From Playa Del Carmen!

July 20, 2018

Hola From Playa Del Carmen! My kids (young adults now) and I are still on vacation in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. We have been here for over a week and we ( maybe it’s just me!) are enjoying the REALLY warm weather! I thought , instead of publishing a boring post about money again, I would just share a few pics from our trip so far.

Travelling With 3 Young Adults!

Travelling with young adults is not the same as travelling alone for sure, and very different from travelling with younger children. Playing on the beach everyday is not an option anymore! Too bad, I had quite a few good books ready to go!

Also with three of them, it is a little more challenging because they don’t all enjoy the same things. My girls like shopping, my son not so much! One of my daughters likes physical activities, the other one not as much. So I try to mix it up a little so we all get to do something we enjoy at least once!

So What have we done so far?

Chichen-Itza is one of the most important examples of the Mayan-Toltec civilization in Yucatán. It is 2-2:30 drive from Playa Del Carmen but totally worth it. It is a very impressive site. Too bad they have so many vendors all around it trying to sell you a LOT of junk but still a nice site to visit.

We took the ferry to Cozumel Island, around $25/person return. The beaches there were amazing, much nicer than Playa Del Carmen (lots of sea weeds right now in Playa Del Carmen). We rented a car for the day, drove around the island and stopped where we wanted. One of the beach we stopped at was a disappointment. We were asked to move to the end of the beach if we weren’t willing to rent lounge chairs or order drinks/food! It was supposed to be a public beach! I guess we weren’t the only ones banned from the cool side of the beach, we had a few visitors at our end: two raccoons and a peacock!

Swim with Whale Sharks

Something we HAD to do (for the kids) but not cheap! $140 ($110 US) each with pick up from our Condo. It adds up quickly when you are a family of four.

I don’t snorkel so it was a little challenging for me (the things we do for our kids!) but so worth it. Swimming right beside a whale shark is quite an experience.

Quinta Avenida

We couldn’t be in Playa Del Carmen and not check out Quinta Avenida. It is a very long street with LOTS of stores and restaurants near the beach, and it is EXTREMELY touristic. We found it much nicer at night but no desire to go back except to eat.

Food & Restaurants In Playa Del Carmen

We have been eating at the condo often to keep the food cost down (so we can do all the fun stuff noted above!), nothing fancy. We stopped at Walmart upon arrival, on our way to the condo and bought cereal, milk, pasta, cooked chicken, bread, butter… Prices were very reasonable, just a little confused with some of the food since our Spanish is limited. We did eat out a few times too so far. Check out my shrimp ceviche:)

Bike And Walk A Lot!

We have been biking and walking a lot in Playa Del Carmen. Our apartment is a little further from El Centro so anytime we need anything we use the bikes, it’s good exercise and cheaper than taking a cab (even if we are dying of heat!).

Wrapping Up

So this is what we have done so far, still more we want to do. Our apartment is awesome! The roof top patio is nice and quiet and the hot cold tub is a nice added bonus. We also have the use of four pools and we have been enjoying them since the beach is FULL of sea weeds. Cost of the rental was included in my last monthly report. There is also a french bakery within reasonable walking distance from the condo for a morning coffee and brioche, life is good!

How about you, have you ever traveled to Playa Del Carmen? Or anywhere else on the Yucatan Peninsula?

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22 thoughts on “Hola From Playa Del Carmen!”

Sounds like a nice trip with the family Caroline. You didn’t bring your partner along? I don’t think I could get away with that with Mrs. DD. We have been to Cancun a couple times, but ultimately we prefer the mountains and forests to the beach. I’m afraid of water. Safe travels. Tom

Hi Tom,
No partner for this trip. He needed a break from my kids and they needed a break from him. Not his preference to be left behind but sometimes blended family is a little more complicated. We do have my kids 24/7! We are planning a trip just the two of us in the fall, maybe Italy:)
I don’t picture you being afraid of water! (funny how we picture other bloggers). I am more of a heat/beach person but because of the sea weed, we didn’t go to the beach much. Cheers

Hi Caroline, cool vacation. I like those pictures. The two raccoons and the peacock looked cute. I never saw a peacock outside a zoo. That’s great you got a nice condo, and could make your own food sometimes. Have fun there.

shrimp ceviche, yes indeed. i remember going to playa de tijuana and having steak and shrimp and a bunch of beer and tequila for about 30 bucks/2 people around year 2000. but there was no tourism and we were the only gringos. have fun!

Sounds like a wonderful vacation. I love Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya. Swimming in the cenotes was so nice. Are you going to Tulum or one of the ecological parks like Xcaret or Xel Ha? I’ve been and I enjoyed my time there. I highly recommend Tulum if you have the time.

Hi Dr. McFrugal, yes we managed to go to Tulum on Thursday and it was beautiful! We didn’t do the beach because there was way too much sea weeds (pics to come) and we skipped El Centro because it was too HOT! We couldn’t do all the activities so we selected swimming with the whale sharks over one of the parks but I do plan to go back at some point.

Hi Lily.
Lol, we had a guide and he called it chicken pizza a few times!
There is one pic of Shrimp Ceviche and it looks awesome (my opinion)! The other times I may have been to hungry to take the pic first:(
Food porn coming to this blog eventually:)

I can’t believe you swam with whale sharks!!! That is a once in a lifetime experience. So brave!! I think if I saw one under water or snorkelling I would probably faint or piss my swim wear. They look HUGE. What was it like to have a bus sized whale swimming beside you?

Haha, it’s freaking scary! Not sure about the brave part, just trying to do cool stuff with the kids. I don’t know when we will be on vacation together again, now that my oldest graduated.
Funny thing is I couldn’t keep up with the whale (s), because my snorkeling skills are none existent, even scarier when you are not in control! But glad I did it.

Looks like an great vacation so far. I’ve never been, only part to Mexico I’ve been was to Cancun for a wedding. So brave of you to swim with sharks. I know it’s available to do that in many places around the world but never thought of it as something I would consider doing. Props to you Caroline. Enjoy the rest of your vacation down there!

Thanks for sharing your trip to Playa Del Carmen, Caroline! I went there towards the end of 2015 and enjoyed my stay. I went to the Tulum ruins but didn’t get to see Chichen-Itza. I might go back again someday. It was great for photos. I hope you had fun!

Hi Graham, we went to Tulum too. It was beautiful! One of my daughters wasn’t feeling well so we didn’t get a chance to visit the town but I am hoping to go back one day. So many places I would like to visit still. Thanks for commenting:)